Tag: armchair travel

Palace of the Blue Butterfly | Episode 7. Why did I choose Mexico as a setting for my book? Two reasons: When I was seventeen, my mother and I took off for Mexico City in her huge Buick Elektra. It was a road trip moment, really exciting, a bit dangerous, with great scenery as a backdrop. Anyway, I fell in love with Mexico. It’s that simple, early imprinting and all that.

The second reason? Well, that has to do with the craft of writing, with the essential element of conflict, and one of my all-time favorite types of conflict involves a woman trying to negotiate a life in a foreign country.

Once I had the setting for my book, I had the conflict. Given all the tension and danger in Mexico now, what was my character doing there? Whom would she meet? Where would she go? And I wanted to . . .